Nothing Happening With Online Poker Legalisation
Saturday June 8, 2013 : REID ON THE ROPES WITH ONLINE POKER?
“I don’t see anything happening," Senator says of legalization effort in Congress
Senator Harry Reid from Nevada may still be working on yet another federal internet poker legalization bill (he's already failed twice to get similar measures through Congress) but he is not optimistic on his chances this time around either…and the submission of the broader King bill may complicate the issue.
That's the conclusion one draws after reading an interview Reid gave to the Las Vegas Sun Friday in which he confirmed that he was still trying to work up a federal bill, but that its chances were not good.
Reid told the Sun: “I felt for several months now that I don’t see any movement on this. I don’t see anything happening.”
Industry observers have noted for some time that the inability of federal lawmakers to achieve some sort of overall legalization is becoming increasingly irrelevant as individual states forge ahead with their own initiatives.
And despite the hiatus caused by the end of the legislative season for many of the states, that drive toward legalization looks set to continue.
In the interview Reid referenced the introduction of Rep. King's federal proposal on Thursday. The bill is much broader in its scope than online poker, embracing virtually all forms of online gambling except sports betting in a more realistic appreciation of the current gambling environment in the United States.
Reid observed that the King bill made the prospects of a poker bill even bleaker in Congress, and he doubted that it would pass anyway because in his view it could cause division among pro-online gambling politicians at the same time that it stiffened the resolve of those who were dead set against any form of internet gambling.
The Senator's enthusiasm for the federal online poker only option certainly seems to have waned.
“We’re still trying, but I’m not really confident we can get something done,” he said.
